I posted this on another forum: The Media thread at sc4ever.comIt's about the media and how/if it dictates our actions, or not.
Now this isn't really a textkit debate, but I'd like to hear your opinions, too (posted on this forum, but of course you can always reply to a thread on the other board).

Well, you can ignore, scorn at, or get brainwashed by the media. But using the media as the primary source of your information you get confined in your thought. You have to read really much and learn to think in a big picture(which I'm not doing, lol) to grasp the slight idea what's going on out there.

You have to be a philosopher to see the "big picture". But the so called, practical, pragmatic education ideology says most people don't need to learn philosophy for their daily life and they only need to know as much to work on a conveyer belt, so to say. That is, you're a slave and slaves don't do philosophy. You are offered entertainment everyday, only you have to hit the channel. And gnaw at some of the politicians who are caught at what every politicians do. And vote for another politician who will do what you can gnaw at later.(Sorry, this may not be an English expression.)

In my mind, there is a kind of resonance : the media say what they believe you will appreciate and you act according to what the media let you know. So the media make you do what is the quintessence of what you want to do (first of all they will make you do what makes you look good, young, rich, brilliant...).

I remember, when living in the Middle East, seeing news items in the local media and then watching totally contradictory reportage of the same issues on CNN or BBC. I pretty much stopped paying attention to current events since then; my faith in news media has become quite crippled. I *could* do major research every time I heard something, but there are things I would much rather do with my time, energy and money.

Of course, I get criticised for this; I tend to get accused of being egocentric, of not caring about what's happening in the world...

A little learning is a dangerous thing.Often when you know a little bit about a subject, you feel like you know heaps about it... and when you start learning about it, only then do you realise how much you don't know. I feel it would be an injustice to form opinions of people/situations based on the polarised reports the media gives... I'd rather not have any opinion than a poorly-informed one.

Well, I only watch PBS as far as television media goes. I like the News Hour because they almost always try to show both sides of the story, or sometimes three or four sides. Do I trust them to tell me the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Not a bit of it. Am I going to look at all the resources at my disposal? (And by this I mean Internet, books, magazines, newspapers, etc., not that I'm going to look at every news bulletin or website on the Internet. ) Definitely. Am I going to trust them any more than I trust PBS? Nope.

Now, that's more my stand on "news" news-the war in Iraq, for example, or North Korea or the Middle East. When Jim Lehrer puts a person on the News Hour and tells me that this person is an author and has just won the Putlitzer prize...well, call me a media dummy, but I do tend to believe him then.

Correct me if I'm wrong, Keesa, but this means that even though you have several sources of news, they are all still american (or mainly), and that is still a problem. If all of your sources are american, they are all owned by only three or so companies, all of which have a vested interest in shaping your opinions.

I find it helpful to read a bit of canadian, a bit of american, a bit of european, and the occasional "alternative" sources to get a well-rounded view. But as Raya said, that can be hugely time-consuming. Part B is simply realizing that there is always an agenda, and taking everything with a grain of salt.

klewlis wrote:Correct me if I'm wrong, Keesa, but this means that even though you have several sources of news, they are all still american (or mainly), and that is still a problem. If all of your sources are american, they are all owned by only three or so companies, all of which have a vested interest in shaping your opinions.

No, no, not a bit of it. I use American sources, but the Internet gives me access to the BBC, Le Monde (good place to practice my French!) and some news site out of...Turkey, I think it is. (The link is stored in a folder, and because of computer difficulties I can't access it right now, or I'd be able to put the name and country down.) I also access an Israeli website...I can't remember the name off the top of my head, but I think it's the "Jerusalem Post" or the "Jerusalem Report" or something like that. Then you add the New York Times and my local newspaper, and it makes for a pretty good mix, I think. (Granted, the Turkish site is translated into English...I have to be careful for hidden agendas among the translators. )